Karnataka to dole out Rs 20 cr to 87 startups under Elevate 100

In the first government funding of the startups, Karnataka government will be giving away grants worth Rs 20.03 crore to 87 startups under Elevate 100 programme.

After a two-month-long contest, consisting of four different rounds 100 startups were shortlisted for the Elevate 100. Out of the selected, 13 startups opted for mentoring alone.

While, 38 IT/ITES startups will be sanctioned a grant of Rs 5.50 crore, 27 MedTech startups will be sanctioned Rs 4.30 crore, 17 ESDM startups will be allotted Rs 3.6 crore, 12 BT startups will get Rs 2.80 crore, Rs 1.33 crore are earmarked for six AVGC startups, four agriculture startups were sanctioned Rs 1 crore, Rs 40 lakh for three CleanTech startups and four startups working in the field of Aerospace & Aviation startups will get Rs 1.10Crore.

"The efforts of Karnataka government don't stop at elevating these chosen 100. We see ELEVATE 100 as a continuing process where the best ideas from the state gets the support and guidance it deserves," Priyank Kharge, Karnataka minister for IT, BT & Tourism said.

Elevate 100 programme, an initiative of the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka, traversed the length and breadth of the state in a rigorous hunt to pick the top 100 startups and help them turn their ideas into successful businesses. The pitching sessions were held in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru, Hubballi and Bengaluru, where around 1,700 startups pitched to elevate their ideas to successful ventures. The initiative also attracted 350 women entrepreneurs and 400 applicants from the rural areas.

The selected startups will have access to Karnataka government's Rs 400 crore start-up fund besides access to Government VC funds, pilots, private VC funds, world class accelerators and mentors.

The US tech giants, Google and Amazon are also collaborating with the Karnataka government on the programme.

While Google will provide $3000 (approximately Rs 2 lakh) worth of cloud credits for startups registered with Startup Cell, PricewaterhouseCoopers will provide mentorship and consulting services for sustainable growth of registered startups.

Amazon Activate will also provide $3000 worth of cloud credits for startups registered with Startup Cell and Indian Law Practices will provide legal consultancy services for the identified startups. Digital Ocean will also provide a $100 one-time credit for all startups registered with Startup Cell and a $1000 one-time credit for startups which are being funded under Karnataka Startup Cell.

Zoho will provide the startups an unprecedented 35+ integrated applications on one account with complete administrative control and complementary mobile apps.

Earlier in the day, the government also signed MoU with the US multinational conglomerate, 3M.

Under the partnership, all the 4,500 startups registered with Karnataka government will get mentoring services by 3M, along with access to their innovation centres.